HVT has me wrecked

ElKavo

Hey All,

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Ive recently started in to High volume training (just finished third week) and I am wrecked with it! I would think that I have a good diet but I just seem to be lethargic, I get good sleep too but I just wake up knackered and feel in general run down. Has anyone else experienced this after switching to HVT before.

Typical day of diet is:
6:30 am 1 x weetabix + 2 spoons mixed seeds FF milk honey, Espresso and 150 ml orange juice. then off to gym, Typically 1.5 hrs of hvt
8:45 - 9 two scoops protein 1 scoop oats 250 ml FF milk, Banana.
10:00 Coffee, black no sugar.
11:00 large multi seed bap with roast chicken cheese mixed salad.
13:30 - 14:00 Mixed fish (either mackerel salmon or tuna) with Peanuts 2 handfuls beetroot chilli lemon / lime juice and tea spoon olive oil. two scoops protein 250 ml FF milk,
17:30 - 18:00 8 egg whites and an apple.
19:30 - 20:00 Dinner, Typically stir fry home made Indian (from scratch) bolognese or similar. No chips or the like ( except Friday with a nice big steak )

Bed by 23:00

Ive also cut pretty Much all cardio out for the duration of the HVT which I had aimed at 8 weeks. I'm trying to gain too at the moment. Currently I'm 91 kgs and I am 192cm tall Bf has sneaked up to 17% :mad:. I am trying to get to about 100kg and back down to about 12 - 13% bf.

Any advice / tips to get over this slump?

Thanks

Absolute Zero

ElKavo wrote: »

Hey All,

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Ive recently started in to High volume training (just finished third week) and I am wrecked with it! I would think that I have a good diet but I just seem to be lethargic, I get good sleep too but I just wake up knackered and feel in general run down. Has anyone else experienced this after switching to HVT before.

Typical day of diet is:
6:30 am 1 x weetabix + 2 spoons mixed seeds FF milk honey, Espresso and 150 ml orange juice. then off to gym, Typically 1.5 hrs of hvt
8:45 - 9 two scoops protein 1 scoop oats 250 ml FF milk, Banana.
10:00 Coffee, black no sugar.
11:00 large multi seed bap with roast chicken cheese mixed salad.
13:30 - 14:00 Mixed fish (either mackerel salmon or tuna) with Peanuts 2 handfuls beetroot chilli lemon / lime juice and tea spoon olive oil. two scoops protein 250 ml FF milk,
17:30 - 18:00 8 egg whites and an apple.
19:30 - 20:00 Dinner, Typically stir fry home made Indian (from scratch) bolognese or similar. No chips or the like ( except Friday with a nice big steak )

Bed by 23:00

Ive also cut pretty Much all cardio out for the duration of the HVT which I had aimed at 8 weeks. I'm trying to gain too at the moment. Currently I'm 91 kgs and I am 192cm tall Bf has sneaked up to 17% :mad:. I am trying to get to about 100kg and back down to about 12 - 13% bf.

Any advice / tips to get over this slump?

Thanks

Hey man,

Looks to me like you could increase your protein intake. I know you train early but try to pump some whole eggs into you when you wake up. If i train early I just heat my eggs in a pot and throw them into a whey shake and then consume some organic jelly and coffee if needs be.

If possible try to increase steak intake, generally its more kcal dense than fish and chicken. When I train something that has alot of volume like Boring but big, I eat a sweet potato after workout, and then an hour later eat another sweet potato (full of butter too). It works well for getting in calories for recovery.

Also, too me it seems you are not getting enough sleep. it looks to be only about 7 hours or even less if you dont hit the sack straight at 11.00 pm (sometimes it takes me 30 mins after i hit the sack to fall 'asleep'). ZMA can help with sleep by the way, and the recovery process.

For recovery then, I recommend attempting to get 8-9 hours sleep a night. Try to sleep an hour earlier if you can. Read a fiction novel before sleeping to help your mind ease, avoid computer screens and tv screens before sleeping and try not let stress from the day affect your sleep. Avoid coffee etc or heavy intake of carbs prior to sleep.
I also would recommend you eat more calories, and check your macros to make sure you are including enough protein. Try to get at least 1.5-2g of protein per pound of bodyweight if you wanting to gain weight too. High volume training requires you to pound the food intake, so dont be afraid of doing this!.

Finally, make sure you do a combination of Static and dynamic stretching. Stretch out those hips, Glutes, Adductor if you do alot of high rep squats, quads. I mainly focus on lower body stretches my self. When you wake up in the morning, work on something like De Francos Agile 8. Purchase a foam roller too, i use it to foam roll by upper back and hips, especially because I work in an office environment.

Hope this helps man. Train hard and have fun!

ElKavo

Cheers Absolute Zero,

thanks for your reply, I kinda figured that I would need more sleep during the HVT phase, I work an hour and a half away from home so the 3 hour road trip plus three kids isnt exactly condusive to an easy training / life / work balance. I will try to get a bit of extra kip mind. I was also thinking rather than doing 5 days straight mon - fri as I am doing now I could do three days a week. Weekend isnt really an option as that's family time and I wouldnt give that up. Then perhas do some light cardio or circuts on tuesday / thursday or perhaps a swim. Nothing too strenious as they are going to be my recovery days. I just love keeping active and may help with the BF. Or perhaps I could do some yoga or pilates at home Hmmmm.

I can also increase my protein intake. I had been eating a good bit more in the previous eight weeks ( about 800 - 1000 cal) when I was on a different low rep higher weight cycle but that is when I went from 13%bf to 17%:mad:. I then cut back on the calorific intake when I switched up to the HVT. I could get another shake into me before bed which should help with sleep using FF milk (approx 200 - 300 cal). In the morning I just kind of run out the door tbh while throwing the food into me. I am planning on getting some liquid egg whites when I get my next order of protein. Ill look at getting some zma then also.

On the steak side of it... Man I'd eat steak and eggs everyday for dinned but the cost is a bit high at the moment. I do eat steak (minute steak) for lunch on the weekends with a large portion 4-5 eggs worth of scrambled eggs not forgetting the hot sauce:D. At the weekend I would normally forget about my shakes though so probably loosing 100g of protein there:( Usually friday and saturday dinner is steak with chips or a bulgar wheat salad, Sunday dinner is usually a roast chicken which sees me eat pretty much 2/3 of the large roast chicken.

This morning I had the usual bix and then 2 olive oil fried eggs on home made brown bread 1 slice and gouda + coffee (normaly I wouldn't have had the eggs and bits) I do already feel a bit more energetic. The missus thinks I'm mad with the amount I eat as it stands so I can only Imagine how she will feel when Im eating another meal or two LOL.

Thanks for taking the time for a detailed response too man. I appricate your time.:cool: